Sandra Shade - Being Half-Human
by ThaliaofAvalon
Summary: Sandra Shade is a demigod who embraces her destiny, but struggles with stereotypes, songwriting, peer pressure, and the ever-present boy trouble, while trying to maintain a relationship with her godly parent. Can Sandra stay true to herself, as she's plunged into this world where nothing is as it seems? Or will she lose all compassion in a desperate battle for survival?
1. Newbie

**Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. If I suddenly woke up one morning to discover that I was, I would be seriously disturbed. **

Sandra Shade 

Sandra Shade was new to Camp Half - Blood. So when she heard a whisper that the Apollo kids were planning a secret dance party in the woods, she knew she had to go. After all, what better way to get to know everyone? And, you know, maybe meet a boy. Although, with Sandra's luck… Let's just say Sandra had bad luck, especially relating to boys. Only two guys had ever been interested in her, and it was only her looks they were interested in, not her personality.

As can be expected, when Sandra had run away from home, she had _not _brought formal clothing. As a result, she now had to ask for help from the Aphrodite kids. She knocked on the door to the Aphrodite cabin.

"Hello?" A girl with jet-black curly hair and pale skin answered the door. "Yaah!" she jumped back a foot. "Y-your fashion sense! It's _terrible_!" Sandra looked down at her Mary-Jane shoes, striped socks, khaki pants, and camp T-shirt, covered with a pale blue sweater.

"What about it?" she asked, curiously. Then she remembered why she was here. "Oh yeah, so there's this party – " suddenly, the entire Aphrodite cabin was at the door.

"A_ party?!_" they shouted in unison. Sandra was surprised.

"Wait – you didn't know yet?" The crowd of girls and boys shook their heads. "Oh." Sandra thought of an idea. "I'll tell you what. If you guys will give me a makeover and lend me some clothes –"

"Oh, trust me, we'd do that for free," one girl muttered, "just to get that horrible outfit out of our brains."

"I'll tell you the details of the party – " A different girl elbowed the one who had suggested they do it for free.

"But we don't need to do it for free! You can definitely tell us all about this party while we fix you up!"


	2. Makeover

Sandra opened her eyes, which she had squeezed shut while the Aphrodite kids had given her a makeover. She gasped and waved her hand at the mirror, not believing it was really herself. The sunset-styled dress was made of some light, silky material and faded from bright pink at the bottom to pale yellow at the top. The yellow, translucent sleeves showed her shoulders but covered her upper arms, and her shoes were bright gold. Her hair matched her dress – it had been dyed pink at the edges and faded to her natural golden hair, which had been doused in glitter, and it all wrapped over her shoulder in a colorful braid. The makeup artists had made her sky-blue eyes seem to glow, with golden and pink eyeshadow. Sandra's reflection waved back at her. It was really her!

"Thank you," she breathed.

"No problem," one girl assured her. "After all, we owed you one, after you told us about the party. I have no idea what we would have done if we suffered such an insult to our reputation. The Aphrodite kids can _not _miss a _party_! Now out; we have to get ready!"

"Bye! See you – " The door slammed in her face. "tonight." Sandra headed back to the Hermes cabin, where she was staying until she got claimed. She lay down in a sleeping bag on the floor, until it got dark out. Then, along with everybody else in the cabin, she slipped out the door into the night.


	3. Don't Drink the Water

**Disclaimer: If you did not already figure out that the people who post here don't own these universes, we don't. I am no exception.**

The dance was in full swing by the time Sandra arrived. Hermes kids and Aphrodite kids appeared to be cooperating in some sort of elaborate plot that resulted in Apollo kids being pulled around a corner of the makeshift stage and not coming back, but everyone else seemed to be having a great deal of fun. Sandra spotted the new boy – Matt – about to take a sip of his drink. She rushed over and grabbed his arm, before he could put it to his lips.

"You don't want to drink that."

She tried to explain, but the music was too loud. Honestly, she had no idea why they hadn't been eaten by harpies yet. He looked at her, confused, until she picked a Sharpie up off the table and drew a skull and cross-bones on his plastic cup. He smiled in understanding – and perhaps something else. Admiration, maybe? Gratefulness?

"Oh! It's spiked!" _Well, that's one way to put it._ She pointed to the guy who had served Matt his drink. The boy was wearing an upside-down name tag that read, _Hello my name is Travis Stoll, son of Hermes_. Matt had to turn his head side-ways to read it. As he turned his head back to normal, he looked around for the mysterious girl, to thank her, but she was nowhere to be seen.


	4. You've Been Pranked

A Hermes kid had dragged Sandra behind the stage. Sandra found herself surrounded by Apollo kids. The Hermes kid was Connor Stoll, according to his nametag. _I thought he looked familiar,_ Sandra thought. She realized he probably thought she was an Apollo kid, because of her sunset themed dress. Entirely missing the announcement, "We're looking for volunteers to go first", she raised her hand, intending to explain her predicament. Instead, she was ushered onto the stage.

"We've been planning a surprise for you, partygoers." That was met with several wary stares. Apparently, the last 'surprise' hadn't been particularly pleasant. "No," Connor Stoll laughed. "Not like last time. Instead of just listening to cliché pop music this entire time, we decided to randomly snatch – err, _select_ Apollo kids from the audience, and force them to sing a song they've written themselves." Somehow, Sandra knew this didn't bode well for her. "Enjoy the show!"

Suddenly, a spotlight was shining right in Sandra's face. _Oh, gods._

"But I haven't been –" she whispered as they handed her a microphone. The final words echoed through the instantly silent forest: "claimed yet." For an instant, Connor looked concerned. Then he mouthed, _too bad_, and grinned evilly. Sandra turned away from him, and towards the expectant crowd. "Uhhh…"


	5. Sing a Song

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, but I do own Sandra and this song, which I really wrote about a year ago.**

Sandra suddenly recalled a song she'd written a year ago. "Real Girl, by me." She started out quietly , but got more confident as she went on.

"I wonder

What would have happened

If you hadn't

Got lost in her eyes.

Would you still be here;

Would you be mine?

But now you're long gone,

And I'm trying to move on,

But I can't help thinking

Of every single time

I made you laugh and

Watched as your deep brown eyes

Glittered in the bright lights.

I see you standing there,

Your back against the wall,

I wish I never told them,

Said anything at all.

But I gotta be a Real Girl.

I gotta live in the Real World!

I gotta play the game,

Gotta walk the part,

Get good grades,

Learn to drive a car.

I gotta like chocolate,

Drink soda,

Wear new clothes.

But the truth that nobody knows –

I'm not over you.

So I search in their faces

For some sign of you.

I know I'll never find it there,

But it's all that I can do." Sandra had hoped that they'd start dancing or become distracted. Instead, they all stared at her until she finished. When they were sure she was done, they all cheered and whistled and clapped, calling for another song.


	6. Getting Claimed

**Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. Whew. It was a relief to get that off my chest.**

"No!" She said it louder than she'd meant to, causing the microphone to make a high pitched squeak – or maybe that was Sandra squeaking. She could only think of one other song, and she definitely couldn't sing it, not now that she knew the gods were real. "I can't!"

"Sing!" a voice shouted in Charmspeak. Sandra somehow managed to resist.

"You don't understand! I can't! I'll be struck by lightning! Or lit on fire! Or murdered in some other horrible, painful way! I – "

"SING!" Sandra now felt a painful headache from denying the Charmspeak.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light on the stage, right behind her. When purple spots stopped dancing in front of her eyes, she could see a teenage boy who looked about seventeen, leaning up against the back wall to the makeshift stage. Somehow, Sandra knew he wasn't a teenage boy though. Maybe it was the flash of light that cued her in, or perhaps she was just a lucky guesser, because when she said,

"Apollo?" the boy responded with a sharp nod. Without meeting anyone's eyes, he spoke softly, and in the most solemn voice anyone there had ever heard him speak in.

"I know which song you're thinking about, daughter." _Wait. What? _"And – it's okay. You can sing it. It's a beautiful song."

"You sure you're okay with it… Dad?" He set his jaw and pretended to be suddenly be very interested in a tiny thread hanging off his shirt.

"Yup. Definitely." He suddenly looked up, a sad, small smile on his face. "You know, I think I remember the guitar part and the guy's part. Can I play and sing with you?" There were whispers that it wasn't fair, but nobody wanted to bother the god of music at a dance party. An old fashioned guitar somehow found its way into Apollo's hands. He started playing the beginning chords, as his daughter turned toward the crowd again. Her voice was shaky when she announced the next song.


	7. Daddy-Daughter Sing-Along

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. However, I did write**_**Cassandra of Troy,**_**so please don't run off and use my lyrics to become a millionaire or anything.**

"Um, this next song is from the point of view of a woman who lived almost three thousand years ago, and died shortly after the Trojan War. Her name was Cassandra.

Sandra:

"I walk in the dark

I follow my heart

I listen to voices

'A callin' my name

Listenin' to gods

Of violent fame

You lit up the torch;

Like a moth to a flame

I came."

Apollo:

"You were everything to me

And you turned me down

I coulda given you everything …"

Sandra:

"Now I see these walls

Oh, tumbling down

I call out your name

But no - one's around.

Why have the gods

Forsaken us all?

Now as the walls

Are beginning to fall,

I can't hear your voice,

No, not at all

I raise my hands to the sky;

To my knees I fall.

Cassandra of Troy

Is calling your name.

I see these halls

Oh filling with flame;

I see these walls

Oh a tumblin' down;

Apollo why

Have you forsaken this ground?"

Apollo:

"I wish I was there,

Holding your hand,

I would give anything

To stand

By your side,

Save you from it all,

Calm every flame,

Save you from the fall."

Sandra:

"All that I ask:

That you break the curse.

Let them believe

My visions at last;

Just let them know!

The past is the past!

I'll give up my gift

To appease you at last!"

Apollo:

"I close my ears,

Cover my eyes,

Curl up in a ball,

Hearing you cry.

You were everything to me,

And you turned me around,

I coulda given you everything…"

Sandra:

"In my youth,

I took my gift for myself!

That's all Paris did;

He helped himself

He followed the orders

Of goddesses high

He made a mistake;

None know it better than I..."

Apollo:

"And I know we can't go back;

I hear you call my name,

Ever since I met you,

I'll never be the same"

Sandra:

"Now I hear the walls

Oh, tumbling down

I call out your name

But no - one's around.

Why have the gods

Forsaken us all?

Now as the walls

Are beginning to fall,

I can't hear your voice,

No, not at all

I raise my hands to the sky

To my knees I fall."

Apollo:

"Cassandra of Troy

Such a beautiful name.

With beautiful hair,

Red as a flame"

Sandra:

"I see these walls

Oh, tumblin down

Apollo why

Have you forsaken this ground?"

Apollo:

"I never wanted to leave,

Never wanted to go;

I wanted to stay by your side

Forever, you know.

I respected your choice;

I was put to the test.

I let you live your life,

Unlike the rest.

But I can't save your family,

Rescue the ones you love.

They say it's better to have loved and lost,

But I'd rather not love at all"

Sandra:

"I know the horse is a trick

But they won't believe

I know the truth;

Ulysses won't leave."

Together:

"Now I hear the walls

Oh, tumbling down

I call out your name

But you're not around.

Why did you have to

Leave me alone?

Now I can't hear

Your voice anymore…"

Sandra:

"I raise my hands to the sky

To my knees I fall."

Apollo:

"Cassandra of Troy

I'd be calling your name.

If I could save these halls

From filling with flames"

Both:

"I see these walls

Oh, tumbling down."

Sandra:

"Apollo, why have you forsaken this ground?"

By the end of the song, there were tears in Apollo's eyes. Sandra put her hand on his shoulder.

"There are some people you never get over," she said.


	8. Heart - to - Heart

Sandra was standing in the empty Apollo cabin, holding her belongings to her chest. Her brothers and sisters were still at the party, being forced to sing. Apollo had walked her to the cabin in silence. Now, he was standing in the doorway, looking for all the world like a heartbroken teenager. Sandra turned towards him.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't want to sing it – "

"No! It's a beautiful song, about a beautiful person. She would have – she would have liked it." Apollo sunk to the floor of the cabin, his back to the doorframe, and head in his hands. "I was seventeen in god years when I met her. Ever since, I haven't been able to take any other form. I may be over five – thousand years old, but I still feel seventeen. I can't get over her."

"Some people are just too beautiful, inside and out, to ever get over." Apollo started crying.

"Why did they have to start th-that stupid war anyway?" Sandra set her stuff down on a bunk, and walked back over to Apollo's side. She sat down next to the weeping god of sunshine. She wrapped her arms around her legs and leaned her head against the wall, watching a moth on the ceiling. After a moment, she said:

"It's ironic isn't it? Everybody thinks of the sun as super cheerful, all the time. But of everyone –"

"We're the ones doomed to unhappiness," Apollo finished. "And just because we care, we keep up the act. We always act happy and energetic, so nobody else has to suffer."

"I feel like there's some quote about suffering in silence, but I don't remember if it said it was brave or stupid." Apollo laughed softly.

"There's such a fine line. It's hard to tell where bravery ends and stupidity begins."

The two sat in silence for a long time. Eventually, the rest of the cabin returned, and Apollo said goodbye. "I'll see you again. Sometime."

"I'll see you then," she replied.


	9. The Trial of Ajax

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Greek Gods, PJO, the Illiad, the Odyssey, or the Aeneid (although I do have a copy of the Aeneid in Latin). Just going to tell you right now: there are some heavily implied themes that might not be easily understood if you don't know the backstory of Cassandra of Troy. If you want to know what happened to her and you are 13 or older, feel free to Google her name. If you choose not to read this chapter, the rest of the story will still make sense.**

_About three-thousand years ago:_

Athena: (seething) "Father! He defiled my temple!"

Zeus: "A sign of disrespect, it's true, but we need a majority Godly Vote if we plan to torture a mortal."

Athena: "He _defiled _my _temple_! At least allow me to pick him up off the ground, and impale him upon sharp sea rocks until he's been crushed to smithereens! Then we can discuss further punishment…"

Zeus: "I understand, but – "

Apollo: (speaking quietly, for once, from the corner of the throne room, leaning sadly against the wall) "I'm in. I will definitely support crushing him to smithereens. He defiled my prophetess!"

Hera: (interrupting unnecessarily) "I think we should get the poor girl happily married off – "

Apollo: (angrily) "WHAT?!"

Aphrodite: "I agree! Perhaps to that dashing Agamemnon!"

Hephaestus and Ares: "Did you just call Agamemnon dashing?"

Demeter: (pointing out) "Well, he sort of is, so you can't really blame her."

Hestia: (pointing to Hephaestus and Ares) "Wait - did you two just agree on something? That has to be a first."

Athena: "That's completely irrelevant and off topic! Focus! The goal is to determine the worst punishments we possibly can for Ajax."

Zeus: (helpfully pointing this out) "Or how we punish him, if at all."

Athena and Apollo in unison: _"We punish him!"_

Zeus: "Hades, what do you think?"

Hades: "Hey, I have no objection to putting another inmate in Tartarus…"

Athena: "That's three votes for impaling Ajax on a rocky outcropping over the ocean and sending him to Tartarus."

Poseidon: (making a face) "Do you really have to do it over the ocean?"

Artemis: (sighing) "It's a pity, isn't it? She could have lived a perfectly happy life as a maiden…"

Apollo: (muttering) "Stupid soldier. Why couldn't any of them just leave her_ alone_? Couldn't they see? That's all she ever wanted! If only someone could have stopped him – "

Athena: "… I just had to sit there and watch it happen!"

Apollo: (ready to kill Athena) "You mean to say you could have _stopped_ it, and you didn't?! If she'd gone to _my_ temple – "

Aphrodite: (smiling sadly) "You would have done anything in your power to save her?"

Ares: (grinning): "Well, impaling him sounds kind of gory. I'm in."

Hephaestus: "I'm in, if we light him on fire!"

Hestia: "Again with the agreement! What is the world coming to?!"

Zeus: "That's five votes for impaling, Tartarus, and burning alive. Hermes?"

Hermes: (looking down at a sundial) "Oops. I'm late! I have to be somewhere five minutes ago! I don't have the time to argue, so I'm just going to go with whichever side Athena's on."

Athena: (smugly) "Six votes."

Zeus: (sighing.) "Well, I wasn't going to take sides, but since everyone seems to be going with Athena, I'll agree, on the condition that we electrocute him with a lightning bolt as well. Is everybody good with that?"

Everybody except Poseidon: "YES!"

Poseidon: (muttering to himself) "Could we _not_ do it over the ocean?"


	10. A Dream

**Disclaimer: my name is neither Rick nor Riordan. Hi guys! I'm sorry for not updating for a little while. I lacked inspiration and time, I had lots of tests, and my little sister came down with a really bad case of the stomach flu... But no more excuses. Thank you, lolitathegoddessorca860! You are officially my first reviewer/messager ever! This story is a bit short, but it is here. you get to see the fun side of Sandra! Enjoy! - ThaliaofAvalon **

_Sandra was sitting in class next to a boy with short, dark-brown hair. She was turned around in her seat, listening to a different boy with long, mussed-up brown hair that was always in his eyes. Suddenly, she sensed a presence that hadn't been there before. The world around her seemed to become dimmer, slowing down. The voices of the other students faded away._

Strange,_ she thought. _That didn't happen the first time around._ For of course, this was a memory. She turned around, and found herself looking into deep brown eyes – the sort you just can't turn away from. She was caught breathless and still for a thousand years, lost in those eyes, yet every moment, they became more of a mystery. Finally, he broke the silence. "So," he remarked drily, "you're the girl they're all talking about." _

_Sandra felt a surge of excited curiosity; "They were talking about me? Who was talking about me? What did they say?" Inwardly, Sandra could tell that this was her past-self shining through. The girl she had become would never have spoken so thoughtlessly. The corner of the boy's mouth quirked up in a half smile that somehow made her more distracted. She couldn't help noticing that he smelled of summertime and campfires, warmth, safety, home. _Focus!_ She reminded herself. A little voice inside of her said _I am focusing – on him._ The boy let out a quick breath of air that might have been a laugh. "Yeah," he nodded, smiling; "sorry. I've been told it's hard to focus around me." Sandra blushed. _

I really hope he can't read my mind, _she thought. The boy reached behind his head, and scratched his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, about that – I sort of _can_ read your mind." Then he remembered his manners. Standing up straighter, he held out his hand to introduce himself. "I'm – well, call me Cyan."_

_ He clearly didn't do this very often, because his hand was palm up, as though he were waiting for a raindrop to fall on it, and he was trying too hard to smile with his teeth. Sandra shook her head, smiling herself. _Oh boy. He has a lot to learn.


	11. Four Thirty in the Morning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Camp Half-Blood or Will. I did invent the idea of Sandra and Cyan, though. According to Nietzsche, and my new awesome friend, Ethan, I am obligated to share my ideas for the advancement of humanity. So, here we go: **

Sandra sat up in bed. She listened as a familiar voice reached her ears.

"I'm telling you, I want to see her!"

She heard one of her siblings, Will Solace, say:

"She's asleep right now. Besides, we don't allow visitors in the cabin before eight A.M. or after ten P.M." Sandra leapt out of bed, pulling on somebody's shirt. She'd give it back later, when she didn't have urgent matters to take care of. She felt a friendly presence in her mind whisper, _Sandra? Why are you pretending to be asleep? _She shook her head as she weaved past the bunks. _I'm not, _she thought. _I was actually asleep until you showed up. I threw on a shirt-_ he interrupted her. _Yeah, yeah, you coming? _In answer to that question, she stepped up to the doorframe beside Will.

"Nope," she replied, winking. "I'm still asleep." Cyan grinned.

"You dream about me often?" he asked. Sandra laughed, the sound echoing over the foggy fields in the chilly early-morning air.

"You have no idea." She brushed her colorful hair out of her eyes with her finger. Will looked surprised.

"You're up already? It's like four in the morning!" Sandra shrugged, glancing at Cyan.

"Yeah, well… 4:30 AM is sort of our tradition," she said. Immediately, she realized that was probably a bad idea. Cyan suddenly and mysteriously started coughing, his eyes twinkling with amusement._ Nightlight!_ He thought at her. _Shut up, _she thought back at him. Apparently, the cough-covered laughter was just as conspicuous as Sandra thought it was, because Will now clearly had the wrong idea. _Gee, _she wondered sarcastically at Cyan. _I wonder what he thinks it is we _do_ at four thirty? _Cyan put on an all – too – innocent expression.

"We take a long walk in the direction of the sunset, so we're the first people to see the sun in the morning," he explained, partially truthfully. Will didn't seem convinced, so Sandra slipped out the door before he could protest or realize she was only wearing underwear and a shirt. She closed it in Will's confused face from the outside. "Bye!" both she and Cyan said.


	12. Young Love

**Disclaimer: My initials are not R.R.**

Sandra and Cyan really were sitting on a beach. Cyan had his eyes squeezed shut, and Sandra's seemed glazed over. _Wow,_ he remarked in her head; _it always amazes me to see you do that._ They were both looking through Sandra's eyes at her incredibly detailed holographic memory of Will's scolding. They both laughed when Sandra mentally dyed his hair bright violet. _The color suits him, I think, _thought Cyan.

Sandra changed it into an image of Cyan grinning stupidly, with precisely that description as a caption floating in the air beside him. _Cyan grinning stupidly? Ouch. That's harsh. I thought that was my smart expression._ Sandra imagined rolling her eyes, and responded. _Oh yeah? You tell that to all the girls?_ Cyan mentally stuck his tongue out at her, saying: _Only the ones I don't like. _

_Liar,_ she thought back at him;_ you know you love me._ He laughed softly, whispering,

"That I do, Aleksandra. I always will." They were silent, both out loud and mentally, for an eternity. They sat there, unmoving, until the sun began to rise. Then, in unison, they rose to their feet and walked back to Sandra's new cabin. As they reached the door, they said their customary goodbyes. Kissing her hand like a knight in shining armor would, Cyan said, "Farewell, my lady." He bowed and stepped back.

"Will I see you again?" she asked rhetorically. Their eyes met for an instant, as he thought, _In our dreams, first, and elsewhere perhaps. Till we meet again._

"Till we meet again," she agreed.


	13. Overprotective Brothers

**Disclaimer: I am not holding Rick Riordan hostage, forcing him to write this, so HE DIDN'T WRITE IT! I hope somebody actually reads this. I know that it's longer than most fanfictions, but that's because I'm actually trying to write something meaningful here. You see, I plan to be a published author someday, and this is the first place anybody is actually reading my work. Most of my friends and family are too busy to read my stories, and insist I finish them before I ask people to read them. Maybe I should, but I would actually like to get my work out there – it keeps me accountable to someone; it keeps me writing. You guys probably didn't know this (unless you have psychic powers, in which case, congratulations), but this is the longest story I've ever written so far, because I usually get discouraged or distracted. It has been really encouraging, these past twelve days, to see the numbers of readers go up. I'm glad that someone gets to see the real me. The real me isn't the girl I was, or who I am at school. It's rarely even the real me when I'm at home. The only way you can be sure it's the real me is when I'm writing. My imagination is the one thing I define as me. Anything else can be changed or taken away, and I will still be roughly the same person. My imagination is the real me. Congratulations to you – you're the only people in the whole world who get to see the real me. Thank you for reading this and being out there. Sincerely, ThaliaofAvalon**

Sandra was standing next to Will in line to sacrifice their food.

"So," he asked, "what's going on between you and that Hephaestus kid?" Sandra laughed.

"Of course you would ask me that. You're an overprotective big brother! What else should I have expected? Cyan and I are just friends." A little voice in the back of her mind said, _But he wishes it were more,_ but she kept talking. "We really were on the beach to watch the sunrise, although, to be honest, we did more sitting than walking. Trust me, I'd be a lot more fit if I walked three miles every morning." Will looked relieved.

A boy dressed all in black, with black hair, tapped him on the shoulder. Will turned around, and grinned at Nico DiAngelo. The poor boy looked like he was going to pass out. Will asked him, concerned, if he was okay, telling him that if he'd been shadow traveling, Will would kill him. Nico smiled weakly.

"No, actually, I'm fine. I actually – um, really I – sort of, uh…"

"Yes?" Will prompted

"So there's thing I have to go do… A sort of… Mission? Quest? And I was wondering, um, if you would come with me?" Will smirked knowingly.

"Of course. I have to make sure you don't break the rules I gave you, by shadow traveling." He whispered something in Nico's ear that made the son of Hades blush.

"You're right," he agreed hastily; "We should bring someone else along." He looked around. "Ummm… How about… Her?" he was pointing at Sandra. "Will you come on our – my – whatever quest?" Sandra nodded, smiling.

"Definitely."


	14. Everything but the Kitchen Sink

**Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO universe. I only own the multiverse inside my head.**

Sandra was alone in the Apollo cabin, packing her neon aqua backpack full with stuff she probably wouldn't need.

"Six pairs of clothes, a bathing suit, nine books, first-aid kit, pencils, notebooks, a small tent, a space blanket, a large block of ambrosia, a half-liter of nectar, ten drachmas, fifty American dollars, Vaseline (for pranks and distracting monsters, of course)…" She went through the list, amazed she could even fit all that stuff in the backpack. She jumped as Apollo appeared behind her.

"I think you missed something." He said.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny."

"No – really." He handed her a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a golden dagger. "The dagger glows in the dark, and will dispel any shade or shadow. Sandra grinned.

"I think I know someone who could use this more than I could," she said, thinking of Will's complaint about Nico shadow-traveling too much.

"Yeah. I know. But Will and I – we're not very close. You've only known him for half a day, and already you're closer to him than I am. I feel like you should be the one to give it to him." They both pictured Will's expression when Nico tried to shadow-travel and found he couldn't. Matching mischievous smiles formed on both their faces, as they laughed casually. "So… good luck on your quest. Keep them G-Rated, will you?"

"Believe me, I will." Sandra and Apollo realized the pun at the same time. "I _WILL_!" By the time Will came to announce that they were leaving, Apollo and his closest daughter were shaking with laughter at various puns and jokes. Apollo gave her a hug. Pulling back, he said,

"It was fun hanging with you. Stay safe."

"I will, Dad." Sandra nodded her head in the direction of Will.

"Oh. Uh, Will, did you want a hug too?" Will looked pretty weirded out.

"Uh… no thanks."


	15. Stay Safe

**Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO universe. I plan to post a lot of these tomorrow (please yell at me via reviews if I don't), because I have four hours of free time at school tomorrow plus until midnight at home. Thanks for reading! Love, ThaliaofAvalon. **

Sandra knew she had to go say goodbye to Cyan before she left. This would be hard. At least he knew Will and Nico weren't into her. That one was pretty obvious… Still, they weren't often separated for more than a few hours. It tended to be stressful on both of them, because they couldn't talk through their thoughts, in both ways. She knocked on the door to the Hephaestus cabin. A boy with curly red hair answered the door. He looked her over before speaking.

"Sandra Shade, I assume." Sandra was surprised.

"How did you know my name?" The boy leaned back into the cabin.

"Hey, Leo, the girl Cyan's been talking about in his sleep just knocked on our door. Wanna come see?" _Oh. Well that explains it._ Sandra heard Cyan give a yelp in the background.

"What the Hell, Ben? Could you open the door any _wider_ while I'm changing? And I don't talk in my sleep!" _Trust me, Cyan. You talk in your sleep,_ she thought at him. Cyan's thoughts came floating towards her. _Don't say that out loud. People might get the wrong idea. _Sandra blushed ever so slightly, noting the wistfulness in his tone.

Sandra and Cyan had been friends since they discovered their telepathic link in 6th grade. Now, he was already sixteen and she would be sixteen in three months. She couldn't believe it had been almost five years since they met. It felt like they'd known eachother forever.

Finally, Cyan came to the door, wearing only a pair of black jeans. It didn't bother Sandra – she'd seen him shirtless before. However, it_ did_ seem to bother the twin Aphrodite girls walking past, because they stopped and stared. A couple of enthusiastic teens waved, too, but he ignored them in favor of Sandra. He pulled on a shirt, and the girls moved on. _Seriously? That was obvious, _Sandra thought. She blocked him from her mind as she thought, _So what? Yeah, he's hot. Yeah, he's tan. Yeah, he was temporarily shirtless. That's no reason to stop and stare!_ And a little, spiteful, selfish part of her whispered,_ He's mine. All mine. It's me he loves, not some rich movie-star's daughter._

Sandra explained that she was going on a quest with Will and Nico. She could tell Cyan wished he could go, but he didn't say anything until she was finished.

"Whatever happens, no matter what, you call me if you need help, okay? Iris message me, borrow a phone, Thoughtscream – anything; just call me. I will be there as soon as I can." Suddenly, his arms were wrapped around her, his chin on her shoulder. "Stay safe." He whispered. She nodded, and hugged him back. Over his shoulder, near the Aphrodite cabin, she could see a girl glaring at her with absolute hatred in her eyes. _You don't deserve him,_ the girl seemed to be thinking. _Maybe she's right,_ Sandra thought guiltily to herself;_ I don't deserve someone this amazing. I can't even return his feelings!_ When she finally broke away, there was a heaviness in her heart that she couldn't seem to lift.

"Farewell, my lady."

"Will I see you again?" _In our dreams, first, and elsewhere perhaps. Till we meet again._

"Till we meet again."


	16. Busses Are Boring

**Disclaimer: "Well yeah, but I don't think Rick Riordan would be writing Fanfiction!" - my sister when I explained what a disclaimer was.**

_Busses are boring_. That was what Sandra was thinking after spending 10 hours in various public busses.

She found herself wishing her telepathic link with Cyan worked over long distances. Technically, it did, but she'd have to Thoughtscream in order for him to hear her, and that was both mentally and physically exhausting.

Also, he was already extremely worried about her. Thoughtscreaming would likely freak him out even more. She knew that when he'd said goodbye, he'd only been putting on a brave face – in truth, he was scared as Hell. She didn't know what he would do if something happened to her.

She was briefly reminded of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus went to the underworld to save his wife, but ended up wasting away for grief when his plan failed. Sandra didn't want anything like that to happen to Cyan. She might not reciprocate his feelings, but he was her only friend, and the only person she'd ever cared about, except for maybe Roland.

Roland Martyrdom was a boy Sandra had met in eighth grade. At first, she had thought she only felt friendly towards him, but Cyan had realized it before she did; she had fallen head-over-heels in love with him. Cyan had missed a week of school the day after he told her he figured it out. Sandra had worried Cyan would never speak to her again. When he finally came back, he was quieter, more introverted. She'd walked up to his desk.

"Cyan…" she had said, "I'm sorry. I'll understand if you don't want to hang out with me anymore -" Cyan had stared at her like she was crazy.

"Are you kidding? Haven't you ever wondered why 'She Will Be Loved' is my favorite song? I honestly wouldn't 'mind spending every day out on your corner in the pouring rain'. I will always be there for you, no matter what, even if you never feel anything for me." Sandra had crushed him in a hug. Cyan stiffened, surprised. Then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Thank God." There were tears in her eyes. "I was terrified. I don't know what I would do without you. You're my best friend. I don't deserve to have a friend like you, but you've been here for me anyway. I'm sorry I don't love you the way you wish I would, but I do love you." Cyan had smiled sadly, knowing the moment would have to end. Reluctantly, he'd pulled away. The two never spoke of that day afterwards. Roland had moved away, and Sandra hadn't been interested in anyone since.

No, Sandra wasn't sure what Cyan would do if she died, but for his sake, she hoped nobody would ever find out the answer to that.


	17. What's the Password?

**Disclaimer: I'm flattered if you thought I was Rick Riordan, but I'm not. Sorry to dissappoint. **

The bus suddenly swerved, and Sandra was thrown against the seat in front of her. She sat there, dazed, for a moment, as the doors to the bus were torn away by something on the outside. Sandra decided she didn't want to find out what it was, and leapt out of her seat, rushing out the back exit. She was followed by Will and Nico. They ran away from the bus, into the woods.

Miraculously, they'd all remembered their backpacks. Will had abandoned his dagger, though, so Sandra pulled out the dagger Apollo had told her to give Will.

"Here;" she said, "This is from Apollo. He said to give it to you. It glows in the dark and dispels shadows, which means it has the ability to prevent Nico from shadow-traveling. The on/off switch is humming the first five notes to 'You Are My Sunshine'." Nico rolled his eyes.

"Of _course_ it is. What _else_ would the God of music and sunshine put as his passcode?" he asked sarcastically. Will responded, counting syllables on his hand;

"'I'm a hot rock star' would work too. So would 'light 'em up, up, up' or 'good old summertime'" Nico touched his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose.

"Will?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"Remember when I explained what a rhetorical question was?"


	18. The Thing Everyone Wants To Know

**Disclaimer: I didn't invent video games. If I did, I would be rich. I also haven't published any books (yet), especially ones that start with "Perc" and end with "y Jackson and the…" I also didn't invent the word 'tubular'. That belongs to the eighties. Now for the biggest question that everybody wants to know about every story. **

The thing they never talk about in books that everyone always wonders about is "Where do they go to the bathroom?" Sandra could now say that she knew the answer to that question, as she peed in a bush.

"That's what I forgot. Toilet paper." She said. Thank goodness there was a familiar plant nearby called 'Indian Toilet Paper'….

When she met back up with the boys, they were discussing hamburgers.

"Really, guys? Hamburgers? Isn't there _anything_ more interesting than hamburgers?" They turned to eachother.

"Video games!" They said simultaneously.

"And Mythomagic," said Nico.

"Did you know there's a digital version of that now?" Will remarked enthusiastically.

"Tubular!"

"What?"

"Never mind. Wrong generation. I've been watching too many eighties movies."

"Who gave you eighties movies?"

"You did."

"What?!"

"Guys!" Sandra interrupted. "There's a monster behind you!"


	19. It Doesn't Have to Be This Way

**Disclaimer: Me: "I am Rick Riordan!" You: "What?! Really?" Me: "Wow. I can't believe you fell for that." Sorry I haven't updated in a while. School was EXHAUSTING. One day, I came home, and promptly took a five hour nap, only waking up a little before midnight. On the bright side, I remembered all my dreams, so I was able to make several entries into my dream journal (yeah, I'm weird like that – but I have really cool dreams that often inspire my writing, poetry, songs, paintings, or drawings). I also took a break to read and review some other people's fanfictions, because it's only fair. You all have amazing stories, no matter what some of you insist! I find myself checking every day to see if you guys updated… To those of you who actually made it this far into my story, THANK YOU! I know it's hard to have to read nineteen chapters of a story and then grit your teeth as you have to wait a week for the next chapter. Trust me, I go crazy when I have to go to school and stop reading for three hours until lunch. I bet you guys are pulling your hair out with frustration. Sorry again. Love, ThaliaofAvalon. **

The monster was huge. It had a pale, anguished face that had a gaping hole in place of a mouth. Sandra was reminded of the painting "The Scream". Distractedly, she wondered if the painter had been a demigod. Will raised his dagger. Nico drew his sword. Sandra watched a darkness pass over their faces. She realized that this was something they had come to accept – any day, they might have to kill a humanoid creature, knowing if they didn't, it would kill them.

"Wait." She said, softly. All eyes turned toward her, including the pair of gaping, bloodshot eyes. "We don't have to do this." She took a step forward. "Look," she said, addressing Scream, "We won't kill you if you don't try to kill us."

"We won't?" Nico asked, incredulously.

"It's not our mission to kill every monster we meet. Our mission is to locate the demigods that caused that earthquake in Arizona. If we leave now, and don't try to kill eachother, we'll save ourselves energy and the nightmares." Scream growled. It bared its teeth. She shook her head. "It doesn't have to end like this. Wouldn't you rather live another day, and –"

Will plunged his dagger into Scream's back. Scream screamed.

"NO!" Sandra cried. She collapsed to the ground. "No," she whispered; "it would have worked. We could have saved him."

Will shook his head.

"You can't let your emotions get in the way. You can't hesitate. It's kill or be killed – if you don't want one, the other must happen." He sounded like he was reciting a report from memory on a subject he didn't like.

"You don't really believe that do you?" She asked. Will glanced back at her, as they left the spot where they'd killed Scream, and said,

"I don't really have a choice."

**Author's note: Today my school had a blackout! We all sat around in the dark telling scary stories (most of which were personal experiences or friends' experiences) until school got out, using graphing calculators (the digital kind) for flashlights. It was awesome! I even told some myself… Anyway, thanks for listening – er, reading. Love, ThaliaofAvalon.**


	20. Hotwiring a car

**Disclaimer: I didn't write the PJO series. If I had, I would be a famous published author. As it is, I'm just a nobody who liked the universe. I was writing a story that had too many pieces from the series, so I borrowed them and wrote it here. Sorry I haven't updated much lately. I would say I had lots of homework, but that would be a lie. I could also say I recently discovered I was a demigod… but sadly, that's not true either. Or I could tell you guys the truth – I got distracted by Avengers: Age Of Ultron, acing organic chemistry tests, TV and video games. I had plenty of chances to update – I just didn't, because I'm mean that way. Also, I feel like I should apologize for the out-of-character-ness of Nico and Will in the last couple chapters (Does it mean you've been reading and writing too many PJO fanfics if you have a dream that Nico is your stepbrother?). Did you know that Will Solace means desiring protection and comfort? It does. Almost all my characters have names that mean something. Aleksandra Shade means the happy defender of men. Cyan Hans Bienaim means like the sun without True Love. I'll tell you the names of the others as I introduce them. Since you guys know what quests are like, I'll skip to when they get to Arizona. Sorry if there actually is a neighborhood between NY and AZ called Autumn Shade Community. I made it up. And the instructions for how to hotwire a car are from Wiki How, so if suddenly a large number of used cars disappear worldwide… Don't blame me. **

A week later, Sandra was speeding down the road in a yellow convertible. Who knew that there were three ways to hotwire a car? All they had to do was Google it. Will (the goody-goody son of Apollo) apparently had experience with this, so they let him do the deed.

"Step one: Enter the car. Do not break into a car unless you own it and have documentation to prove it. Be aware that forced entry will set an alarm if the vehicle is equipped," he warned.

"Yeah, because that totally applies to us," Nico had remarked.

"Be warned, though. This method of hot wiring a car will only work on cars older than the mid-90s. Newer models are equipped with a whole host of locking mechanisms in place to keep you from hot-wiring the car."

Sandra read off the Wiki How page: "Drill in about the length of a key. Every lock pin has two sections followed by a spring, so drill it more than once, removing the drill each time to allow the bits of the lock inside to fall into place. Put the screwdriver in the keyhole, and turn it like a key." At one point, Nico asked Will,

"When did you hotwire a car before?"

"I had my misguided childhood too, you know!" He'd protested.

He would be driving right now, except Sandra was the only one with a driving permit. Sandra had no idea why they hadn't been pulled over by the cops yet, because she was a terrible driver. She'd run into one of those neighborhood signs that said Autumn Shade Community twice. _You're right, _she thought, when the stones made an explosion noise and collapsed. _It's definitely all about fall. _She didn't even bother looking at the front of the car for damage; she didn't care. It wasn't her car.

They were currently speeding down a freeway that, according to the signs and built in GPS, was called the 101. She glanced down at the speedometer. 98 miles per hour. Sandra grinned evilly. _Watch the police try to catch me now._ As if on cue, she heard a siren. She swerved onto the nearest exit.

She kept driving until she ran out of gas, pulling into a school parking lot.

"So," she asked, "What now?"

**I hope you enjoyed that! Also, just to clarify, I have never hotwired a car. Love, ThaliaofAvalon. **


	21. Un-Ditching School

**Hi guys! I just glanced (it wasn't at all like I kept clicking on the number, watching it go up) at the number of views for my stories and I made an excited squeak that sounded half-hamster, half-dying-cat. If my family were watching me right now, they would be giving me some WEIRD looks. Instead, I want to hug you all through the internet. Trust me, that's really weird for me. I'm mostly a "Don't touch me!" sort of person. You guys are awesome! You went through the trouble of reading 20 chapters (although you probably all learned something if you read chapter 20). So I was thinking… Maybe as a thank you I should update sooner rather than later. I don't own this universe! – ThaliaofAvalon**

"So," she asked, "What now?"

"Good question," Will remarked. "Nico? You getting a read on the demigod?"

"I don't…" Nico's eyes became unfocused and kept opening wider and wider, until the two children of Apollo were getting nervous.

"Um… Nico?" Nico's eyes went back to normal.

"_Gods of Olympus," _he breathed. "There are so many! That school is practically glowing with demigod life forces! The only question is –"

"Which ones do we take back to camp?" Will finished

"I was going to ask which ones caused the earthquake, 'cause they're probably Big Three kids, but that works too." Sandra raised her hand cautiously. Will rolled his eyes.

"We're not in school yet," he pointed out.

"Yeah I got that. I just figured I should mention that it's always easier to walk right into school than walk right out. We're gonna need a distraction." Nico stiffened then scrambled out of the car, unsheathing his sword.

"It smells like we're going to get one." _Smells?_ Sandra wondered glancing at her brother, but Will just shrugged, clueless. The three demigods rushed into the building. The lady in the front office glared at them as they tried to run past.

"Nice try," she sneered, "but you have to sign in first." She glanced at Nico's sword calmly. "At least you remembered to bring a pencil. Most kids who ditch don't bother to bring anything to class." Will choked back his laughter at the deadly Stygian Iron sword being confused for a pencil. Each of the three grabbed a blue pen with a plastic flower taped to it from a glass 'vase', and signed a fake name. The lady flipped the sign in sheet around so she could read their names. "Sara Smith, Warren Smith, and Norman De Bergerac, all sophomores? That's funny. I don't remember hearing your names before. And are you two" she pointed from Will to Sandra "twins?" Sandra used her quick-thinking skills to come up with a believable story.

"No, we're actually ten months apart. Warren's just a little older than me." She punched his shoulder playfully. "It's _so_ not fair," she complained. Front Desk Lady smiled.

"Brothers. I have three, so I know how you feel." Sandra leaned over the desk to start chatting with the talkative woman, but apparently her distraction tactics were unnecessary, because someone said,

"_Aleksandra? _What the Hell are _you_ doing here?" She stood still, shocked for a moment, then came up with an excuse for the confused Front Desk Lady.

"Alexandra is my middle name. I told Roland I probably wouldn't be coming to school today 'cause we were ditching." Luckily Roland went along with it.

"Come on guys," he said, giving Sandra a glance that said '_you are going to explain everything later but right now I'm going to help you out '_, "we're gonna be late to the Talent Show!" Front Desk Lady waved goodbye.

"Bye! I'll see you around! Let's talk again sometime, Sara!"

"Yeah," said 'Sara' a little too cheerily, "that was fun! See ya!" She, Will, and Nico followed Roland to the Talent Show.


	22. Apollo Kids Got Talent

**Disclaimer: I wear skirts (on special occasions). Rick Riordan does not. Therefore, I do not own PJO. Hi! Half of you are probably at school right now, but hopefully you're like me and when you get home, you'll run into your room, flip open your laptop, and start reading. I must have been watching way too much My Little Pony (with my younger siblings, of course) lately, because last night I dreamt that people from another dimension were turning into miniature pink, purple, and yellow cartoon ponies, and I had to help them escape the cabin I was in for some reason. Maybe it was the same cabin I was dreaming about two nights ago where Nico was my stepbrother… Then I dreamt I threw a party and invited my entire school over to my house, but for some reason they were all acting like toddlers and climbing onto the furniture and into the garden. It was a swim party, and for some REALLY WEIRD reason, I was wearing a bikini swimsuit. I never wear those. Some guy from my school (whom I am not interested in in any way) asked me if I thought he was hot, while standing on top of something, trying to be taller than everybody else. I gave him a weird look and went to clean my room… Sound weird? Yeah. That's my sort of dream for you. Thanks for reading! Love, ThaliaofAvalon.**

"So…" Roland asked. "What is going on? Why are you here? Why are you pretending to go to my school? Who are these guys? Since when do you wear all black? How did you get here?"

"Umm…" Sandra smiled sheepishly, trying to think of an excuse, until she noticed Nico waving his arms, mouthing _he's a demigod_. "Remember back in eighth grade," she felt a pang of regret "when we were sitting in Lit – Comp class, and you corrected me when I said 'cheese is bad for harpies' was from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series? You said it was from the Heroes of Olympus series. Since you knew that, I'm assuming you read the books."

"Yeah…" Roland looked like he knew what she was about to say, and thought she was crazy, but he asked anyway. "What about it?" Sandra took a deep breath.

"Well… This is Nico, and this is Will. " Nico looked embarrassed as he recalled what had been said about him in the books. He waved nervously.

"Uh, hi." Apparently that hadn't been exactly what Roland had expected.

"Wait… Are you saying Rick Riordan based his characters off these kids, or… That it was all real?" Nico answered this time.

"The adventures were relatively accurate, but the chapters came from interviews with my friends. I gave Rick permission to use my version of the story told from Jason and Hazel's point of view, but it's not exactly a comprehensive study of the inside of my head. Most of his depictions of me were figments of his imagination loosely based off of my actions."

"So you guys believe all that stuff?"

"I can prove it," said Nico, quietly, "but first we have to go in there." He pointed at the door to an auditorium. Through the tiny window, they could see a stage set up inside, where several kids were dancing to music that was shaking the floor.

"Why?" Roland asked.

"Because," Nico stated, "there are several demigods in there that are going to be attacked by a monster any minute." Normally, Roland would have turned them in, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"Okay." Roland held open the door as the three slipped in, then he followed them in.

"Uh oh," Sandra whispered; "look!" she pointed to the ceiling above the boy who was getting ready to sing. There was some sort of monster hanging from the ceiling, looking ready to attack at any moment. The boy seemed to be looking for someone in the crowd. He looked their way and saw Roland. His eyes lit up and he smiled, oblivious to the danger he was in. Roland waved.

"Yeah, that's my friend Matthias Carol;" Roland whispered to Sandra, "what's the fuss about?" She took off through the crowd for the door that led backstage. "Where are you going?" Will grabbed Roland's shoulder.

"Look above him," he whispered, pointing at the monster and the boy onstage. Roland looked, and froze at what he saw.

"Di immortales." He breathed. At least he knew how to swear in ancient languages. Matthias started speaking into a black microphone.

"As some of you know," here, he glanced cheerfully back towards Roland, "I like to write songs." Suddenly Sandra was on stage too, standing beside Matthias.

"Yeah. Me too," She echoed into the microphone. There was a murmuring from the crowd and the judges as they realized she wasn't supposed to be there. Matthias, however, had a flash of recognition in his eyes. He reached up and brushed his own chin-length golden hair behind his ear, and smiled as she did the same with her sunset hair. She winked at him. "We wrote a song together a while ago," she said, literally glowing with excitement.

"She needs to keep her powers in check," Will whispered. "The mortals can see Sunglow around children of Apollo. Also, when did she get a chance to write a song with that kid?" Roland shrugged, just as surprised and confused as Will. Matthias spoke up, over his shock at running into his twin sister.

"It's called Thunderstorm."


	23. Battle of the Bands

**Disclaimer: I didn't write the Percy Jackson series, but I did write**_**Thunderstorm**_**. I won't try to identify who's singing at which parts, because it's a little too confusing and this chapter would take longer to put up. Just assume they're both singing at most parts.**

"It's called Thunderstorm."

"Let it rain. Let it pour.

Let it rain down on me,

Wash it all away."

Roland stared at her in surprise. He'd had no idea she could sing.

"Let the rain pour down, washing over me.

Let the rain soar down, soak me to the bone.

Let it pour down - freeze me to the core;

Let it pour." The creature above their heads seemed to be getting blinded and very annoyed by the light radiating out from her.

"I'm standin' in the rain. It's a half freezin' winter's day.

My hair's so wet, you would never recognize me,

Even if you'd known me for thousands of years." Matthias was starting to glow now, too. The air was getting warmer.

"Raindrops, slipping off my frozen eyelashes,

Silver dots fall unnoticed to the ground.

It looks like I've been cryin'; maybe I have." The monster looked ready to pounce. _Uh oh,_ Roland thought._ What's her plan now?_

"I'm not sure anymore, where the storm ends and I begin.

It's so cold, I can't feel my fingers anymore,

And I know my face is there, but it's just so cold..." The monster pounced. Now Roland could see that I hadn't been just one – there were six of them. Sandra pulled Wills dagger out of her pocket. Roland found himself hoping that the audience saw it as a microphone. He snapped his fingers like Thalia in the series. _You see a microphone,_ he thought at them. A lot of mortals looked suddenly relieved. Several kids, who Roland guessed were demigods, appeared to be really nervous, and looked around for weapons to use. Five additional monsters were suddenly in the crowd, facing off against the unclaimed, unarmed demigods. Will looked confused for a moment as he rifled through his pockets for the dagger. Realizing she'd swiped it, he frowned and crossed his arms. Somehow, the twins kept singing during their battle.

"I let it wash away all my memories, and everything

That ever tried to hurt me, and now it's all gone.

Now I'm just a part of the storm, a small cloud in the rain." It seemed to be both distracting the monsters and making the two faster and stronger. _Huh,_ thought Roland,_ I should definitely try that next time._ Nico jumped into battle with his Stygian Iron sword.

"I'm unnoticed by all, yet I stay the same;

There's no changin' me; I'm a part of the storm.

I'm the rain, I'm the clouds, I'm the THUNDERSTORM." Every time they said the word 'thunderstorm,' a wave of energy blasted out from them, knocking anything in its path back five feet or to the ground.

"You will never make me disappear.

Though you might never see me, I'm still here.

Let the rain pour down, let the rain pour down." Will and Roland started fighting with their fists. Will's dagger flew out of Sandra's hand.

"I've got nothing to fear, 'cause every drop of rain

It only makes me stronger! Stand up! Stand on your feet!

If you're thinking about crossin' me, it's a bad idea." Matthias picked up the dagger, spun around, and swung it in an arc, hitting a monster over the head hard with the hilt. CRACK! It collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"I can tell you right now, better hold onto your hats

And everything else, 'cause I can take you any day

And if you remember, what did I say?" The mortals seemed to be under the impression that this was a planned dance off to go along with the song. A few stood up and started clapping to a 'beat'.

"Now I'm just a part of the storm, a small cloud in the rain.

I'm unnoticed by all, yet I stay the same;

There's no changin' me; I'm a part of the storm." Sandra and Matthias had managed to not kill a single one of the monsters, but had instead managed to knock them all out (at Sandra's silent request). They leapt off the high stage, rolling to their feet. They joined Will and Roland, who, since they didn't have any weapons, hadn't killed any monsters either. A couple were lying unconscious on the gym floor, though.

"I'm the rain, I'm the clouds, I'm the THUNDERSTORM.

I'll blow you away; I let it wash away all my memories,

And everything that ever tried to hurt me, and now it's all gone." Somehow, Matthias still had his microphone, and the twins kept singing, passing the microphone as they ducked and rolled, perfectly synchronized.

"Now I'm just a part of the storm, a small cloud in the rain.

I'm unnoticed by all, yet I stay the same;

There's no changin' me; I'm a part of the storm." Suddenly, the last of the monsters knocked Nico's sword out of his hands. He cried out and reached his arm towards it as it skidded across the floor. The monster knocked him to the ground, about to sink his fangs into Nico's neck. Will turned towards him._ No._

"I'm the rain, I'm the clouds, I'm the THUNDERSTORM.

Now I'm just a part of the storm; a small cloud in the rain.

I'm unnoticed by all, yet I stay the same." There was a blur of black from somewhere. The Stygian iron sword was no longer on the ground, but it wasn't in Nico's hand either. Sandra and Matthias looked worried, but kept singing.

"There's no changin' me; I'm a part of the storm.

I'm the rain, I'm the clouds, I'm the THUNDERSTORM.

Yeah, I'm the THUNDERSTORM." The monster that had almost killed Nico disintegrated, sending a cloud of sulphurous monster dust down Nico's throat. A hand reached down to help him up. Nico grabbed it, still coughing. The hand hammered heavily against his back until he could breathe again. Nico glanced toward the boy who'd saved him. The boy was about eighteen, tall, with unreadable, sad eyes and dark, curly hair.

"Hi. I'm Thanador Rhodes." He pointed out a little girl who looked a lot like him. "This is my sister, Bethany." Nico nodded, catching his breath.

"Nico." The boy held out the sword to Nico. Nico's eyes widened. "Only – only children or legacies of Hades can hold that."

"Sorry." The boy shrugged. Nico grabbed it, and wiped the monster dust and guts off onto his black jeans before sheathing it.

"It's okay. I'm just surprised." Nico suddenly found himself tackled in a warm hug by Will.

"I was so scared I would lose you." Will whispered into Nico's ear.


	24. Sandra Drives a Bus

**I bet you guys are loving this. My muses have my hands chained to my sky-blue laptop, and they won't let me leave. "WRITE!" They shout in my ears. "A little more Tragedy!" Melpomene yells. "More Comedy!" Yells my namesake. "Please stop!" I yell. "NOO! Write!" They command. I scream. "STOP! I NEED TO EAT! I NEED TO BE SOMEWHERE! I NEED TO DO SOMETHING! I NEED TO HAVE A LIFE!" Apparently not. I'm supposed to survive on the muses' spirits and vitamin water alone. Wish me luck! I don't own this universe, or Marvel's multiverse. Oh, yeah. There really is a place in Arizona that the GPS pronounces "Butt Drive". Love you guys, ThaliaofAvalon.**

Apparently hijacking a school bus just involved knocking out the driver and snagging his keys. And who knew that Sandra was a terrible bus driver? Just about everybody from Arizona to New York. Funny thing about busses – they didn't have a built in GPS. Luckily, Roland had a cell phone with GPS on it, but the bus went faster than the GPS could talk, so it kept saying '_Recalculating… Recalculating… Turn Left on Butt Drive'_ and other such things. Roland leaned forward in his seat, holding onto the back of Sandra's seat, as Sandra swerved to hit another neighborhood sign, gritting his teeth.

"You are so fired. Do you really have to hit_ every single one _of those neighborhood signs?" Sandra saw a familiar neighborhood sign. _Oh no! They almost fixed it! _Sandra slammed the bus into the Autumn Shade Community's sign. Sandra froze and almost shivered as his hand brushed the back of her neck when she turned. If he didn't stop being so damn clueless and distracting her, she was going to crash the bus.

"I don't like to be touched," she snapped. It came out harsher than she'd meant it to, but it worked. Roland snatched his hand back.

"Sorry." Sandra bit her lip. _Focus,_ she thought to herself. She could hear Matthias snort as he heard her thoughts. They were twins after all. _Shut up, _she thought back at him. Roland looked at Matthias. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Sandra's quick glance in the rearview mirror that bus drivers use to keep an eye on the kids showed that Will was giving her twin an odd look. She had an idea about what he was thinking, because Apollo kids tended to be really perceptive.

"Are you guys twins?" Sandra laughed.

"That's the second time today that someone's asked me that." Matthias responded for her.

"Yes. We're twins. It's completely ridiculous, and incredibly unlikely, but we were separated at birth. The details are complicated, but Sandra and I met up on her vacation to Arizona last year. We instantly knew we were twins – you know how you sometimes just know something? We had a – uh – telepathic link, so that helped." Sandra laughed at something she was remembering.

"Remember the Battle of New York?" She asked. Another demigod, a girl with platinum blond hair and stormy grey-black eyes, whose name was Karen Elysium, raised her eyebrows.

"The Battle of New York? You mean like in the Avengers?" This time it was Matthias' turn to laugh. Roland glanced at him skeptically.

"If I'm Hawkeye and Sandra's Black Widow, then I suppose it was a lot like that. Minus the aliens, you know. Basically, it was Sandra and I against an army of empusai, the gorgons, lamiae, and the Erymanthian Boar."

"I think there were some incubi too." Sandra added. "You can't forget about them!"

"Of course not."

"Wait…" Roland's eyes were wide. "Are you saying you faced down a whole army of monsters – and you came out unscathed?" Matthias snorted.

"Yeah right. Remember what you said, Sandra?"

"Right! I said 'I'm fine! It's just a bullet wound, a stab wound, a twisted ankle, a couple cracked ribs, and a broken arm!' Now that I think about it, where exactly did I get the bullet wound? Was it that policeman who thought we were gang members? Or the real gang members? Or when we crashed into that targeting range?"

"I honestly don't recall." Basically everyone on the bus said some version of:

"And you're both still_ alive_?!" Roland sat back in his seat.

"Wow. I _really_ underestimated both of you," he said. "Remind me not to get on either of your bad sides." Sandra glanced in the rearview mirror for an instant, meeting Matthias' eyes. Neither said a word, or made a sound, but the twins had the same thought nonetheless:_ Trust me, you can't get on my bad side – because around you, I don't have one._


	25. McDonalds and Incubi

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO. Sorry it's a little short, but it's here! My laptop was having troubles, I was busy throwing a party... No more excuses. **

Funny thing about driving a dozen demigods across the country – it tends to attract a few monsters. Sandra swerved to avoid the Minotaur.

"Look out for the incubus!" Someone yelled helpfully.

"She's hot…" mumbled someone else as they stared out the window, probably Roland or Thanador. Will glanced out the window as they passed the incubus. Her face seemed to rot before his eyes. She grew fangs and claws and leapt at the bus, making a screeching noise as her claws slid down the side and she was pulled under the wheels, leaving behind a cloud of twilight-blue dust.

"I just don't see it..." Will shrugged. Nico made a huffing sound that might have been a laugh.

A dozen demigods minus Nico and Will were sitting at three different booths in McDonalds. A dirty-blond haired, brown-eyed girl was fiddling with a box of paperclips she'd somehow managed to grab as they escaped the school. She looked up and smiled as Will and Nico came and sat down, carrying several happy meals.

"Hi! I'm Cara Smith! So we're all kids of some gods? That's really cool!" She turned to Nico. "Who's your godly parent? Is it Aphrodite? Or –" He smirked, quickly correcting her. Will gave him a look that said _Dude, she's totally hitting on you_. Nico made a point to ignore him.

"Hades. I'm the son of the god of the underworld." Cara looked surprised. Then she seemed to get a little nervous.

"Does that mean…" She hesitated. "That you can just make anyone you don't like just… die?" Nico laughed softly.

"That would sure come in handy, but I can't just make people – or monsters – die. Sure, I can open up Tartarus right underneath them, but it's not quite the same thing. I can also absorb pieces of their soul into my handy – er…" He realized the mortals probably thought his sword was a cell phone or a fork. He leaned closer and whispered, "Stygian Iron sword." He shrugged, leaning back, as if that was something you heard every day. "It makes them easier to take out." Her eyes widened.

"So… Is that like vanquishing a demon? Do you have a book of shadows?" She wondered eagerly. Nico was a little confused.

"Umm… I have a sword of shadows. And I can shadow travel. But I've never seen a book made out of shadows. As for vanquishing demons, I suppose it's similar." Will was covering his mouth, laughing hysterically. Nico glanced at him, a little annoyed. "What?" Will recovered from the sudden onslaught of laughter. He swallowed and took a deep breath. Looking Cara in the eye, he said

"You like nineties TV shows too? I got hooked on Charmed when the Hermes kids 'borrowed' a television from a nearby electronics store, and they hacked their way into Netflix. Who's your favorite character?" Nico looked confused.

"What's Netflix?" Cara stared at him like he was crazy.

"What are you, homeschooled? How can you _not_ know what Netflix is?" Will looked nervous as he glanced toward Nico.

"I'm… Older than I look. I was sort of trapped in a magical casino for several decades." Cara stared at him for a minute. Then she shrugged and focused on eating her food. Will and Nico shared an amused look. At least she wasn't too freaked out. Suddenly she looked up.

"Leo," she stated, then went back to her food. Will nodded, thoughtfully. _So, _he wondered,_ if Leo is her favorite character, what does that say about her personality? And what about her godly parent? _He glanced at her, noticing something familiar about her. He frowned, focusing, trying to figure out what it was.

"Why are you frowning and staring at me? Do you not like Leo or something?" Cara asked, finishing up her burger. Will rolled his eyes and smirked.

"I was just trying to figure out who your godly parent is. Is there any way you could help me with that? Which of your parents don't you have, and what do you know about the other one?" Cara blinked. She chewed on some frenched fries as she thought.

"Well, I'm in the foster system, so I don't know too much about them. All I know is my birth mom was mortal. She had me at seventeen. I know she went on to become a teacher, and she never married my dad. That's about it, though. Sorry."

"No problem." Will assured her. "Lots of kids at Camp Half-Blood were in the foster care system at some point. Take Leo, for example." His face lit up. That was it! He turned to Nico, flashing blinding white teeth at him. "I win!"


	26. Sandra Stares at a Fry

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. Hi Dad! Thanks for reading my work! And you too, mysterious readers from around the world! Sorry for not updating in a while. School's out (for me), though, finally, so hopefully I'll have more time to update. Sorry it's short. You guys are awesome! Thanks again, ThaliaofAvalon.**

While Will and Nico were challenging eachother to a game of Guess the Parent, Sandra was focusing very hard on a particularly soft frenched fry.

"Umm… Sandra?" It was Roland. She glanced up, a dull expression on her face like she'd just woken up from a midday nap. She mumbled something unintelligible, then the more logical,

"Mm… Hmm?" He laughed silently at her, smiling and shaking his head, clueless as always.

"You've been staring at that fry for ten minutes." She giggled half-heartedly, leaning her cheek against her hand

"Nghhhh… wuzae?" Roland blinked.

"Uh…" Matthias clarified:

"She's tired. REALLY tired. Driving a bus wears you out. If we're not careful, she might start spilling out her deepest darkest secrets, so we should leave her alone." Roland's face lost its usual touch of humor. His expression became dangerous.

"I don't know…" He said quietly, leaning towards her across the plastic table. "Maybe that would be a good idea." Sandra was painfully aware of how his dark eyes were staring into hers. "Maybe she could tell me why she –" Matthias saw and could feel that Sandra's eyes were filled with pain.

"Stop!" he pleaded. "Just leave her alone. Please." The last word was a whisper, but it was pained enough to make Roland glance towards his best friend in concern. As Roland saw the same hurt in the blue eyes of his friend as in the identical pair he'd been staring down, he let go of his anger. He glanced down at his box of frenched fries guiltily.

"Sorry," he mumbled, stuffing a few into his mouth. Sandra ate the frenched fry in her hand, and proceeded to snatch up a few more.

"Matthias," she asked, "do you have your permit?" At his sympathetic downcast look, she sighed. "If I go on like this for much longer, I'm going to crash the bus." Her mind flashed back to the last instant similar words had rushed through her head.

_Sandra froze and almost shivered as his hand brushed the back of her neck when she turned. If he didn't stop being so damn clueless and distracting her, she was going to crash the bus._

She shook off the unwelcome thoughts as Roland spoke.

"I have my driver's license. I'll drive the bus, if that's okay with you." Sandra put on a relieved smile.

"Thanks. That'd be great."


	27. Family History

**Disclaimer: I did not write PJO or HoO. If I had… I'm pretty sure the stories would have been very different. There would have been a lot more about children of minor gods and more unanswered questions. The gods would also have had better relationships with their children. This is my try at something like I would write if I were Rick Riordan. I did my best to tie in some of his characters, so they wouldn't feel left out, but for the most part, this story is about children of minor (not the Big Three) gods. There will be prophesies, quests, and battles, but there won't be any further wars. This story is about the demigods themselves, not action scenes or what's going on around them. Everyone in my story has flaws, fatal flaws included, as well as good sides, even bad guys. Kids who get claimed won't be very obvious in their godly parent, because every person has traits from multiple godly parents. When I took demigod quizzes on the internet, just to demonstrate for this author's note, some of the godly parents it came back with were Hephaestus, Hades, Apollo, ARES, Athena, and Demeter. I am a pacifist, anti-bullying, and non-violent, so Ares was a bit of a shock. Hades I guess makes sense, because I like to wear black, though I am not Goth, as my sister seems to think (honestly, I don't even wear makeup) and I am introverted, but I honestly don't think that fits me very well. Hephaestus – I like collecting anything that fits in my pockets and messing around with it when I need to focus. One time, I was actually able to build a circuit, minus the battery. Athena – I am not a straight A's student, but I like battle strategies (because they're cool. Ever seen a diagram of the battle of Cannae? The bigger army, Rome, lost because of Carthage's battle plan). As for Demeter, I like gardening, but I end up killing almost every plant I try to grow. Apollo's the only one that actually makes sense – I like music, poetry, and sunshine, and I am actually pretty good (according to some people) at the first two. How one can be good at sunshine, I don't know. Also, sometimes I know something before it happens. There are a few more reasons, but you get the idea. I sort of think if I was a demigod, my godly parent would be Apollo, but as you can see, I have the characteristics of many of the gods. It would be kind of hard to figure out which it would be, if I was a real demigod. That's the way I plan on making my characters. Sorry for the super long author's note. Love ya, ThaliaofAvalon.**

Matthias leaned backwards in his seat, putting his feet up on the back of the driver's seat, where Roland was currently sitting.

"You know," Matthias remarked, "I have to say, Roland, you are way better at driving a bus than Sandra. We haven't hit anything except monsters in half an hour. If this were a real bus driving job, you would totally be her replacement." Sandra mumbled something in her sleep about the Autumn Shade Community. Roland stared very seriously at the road in front of him.

"It probably helps that I have more practice than she does. There's a reason I have a license and she doesn't. Also, please move your feet, Matty. It's really distracting to have a pair of sneakers sticking in my face when I'm trying to drive." Matthias moved his feet.

"Yes, Mom…" He grumbled. Roland smirked, knowing Matthias couldn't see his expression.

"How come you never told me you had a twin sister? Especially considering I directly asked you – okay, I'll admit, I was joking – if you had a sister who lived in New York." Matthias' face fell.

"I'm sorry. I really wanted to. I would have, but someone might have overheard me. There's a reason we were separated, you know. Apparently, twin demigods are actually pretty rare, and tend to be powerful, especially when together, as you saw at the Talent Show – can we call that the Battle of the Bands? It was totally awesome – and they tend to be even more powerful if they're kids of Apollo, because he was a twin. It's even worse, because we're legacies." Will looked curious.

"Who exactly are you legacies of?"

"Well…" Matthias thought for a moment. "Let's see – If the legend's true, we're distant legacies of Phorcys, Ceto, Euryale, Poseidon, Pontus, Coeus, Phoebe, and Zeus. Possibly Hermes. As well as…" Here he glanced at his sister. She glanced back towards him sleepily. She nodded solemnly. "Artemis." Everyone on the bus was silent. Nico was the first to speak.

"Phorcys? Ceto? Euryale? Pontus? I can only remember one mythological character with that ancestry. And if I'm right… You really are unique. And your claim about Artemis – that might actually be true."

"What mythological character are you thinking of?" Roland asked. Sandra sat up now. She turned toward Nico.

"Orion, Right?" She asked.

"Hazel's horse?" Will asked, confused.

"Distant relative." Sandra responded. Some kid from the back, who was listening in on their conversation, blurted out incredulously,

"You're related to a horse?" Sandra shrugged her shoulders.

"Sort of. Orion and Arion are both children of Poseidon, and their names sound the same." Will chuckled.

"That must be confusing at family reunions." Sandra mimicked what she supposed that would sound like:

"'Oh, Arion, please pass the hay.' 'I don't eat hay.' 'Not you!' 'Orion, please pass the salt.' 'Um… I don't have hands. I can't really pick up a saltshaker.'" They all shared a laugh on that one.


	28. Book 2 Announcement

**DON'T FREAK OUT!**

**Hi! Okay, I know that's not a very good ending, but DON'T FREAK OUT! I'm going to continue this story in a Book 2. I will call it ****_Sandra Shade – Avoiding Boys _****(which is about Sandra's past and the various guys in her life) if you are interested. I will let you know when I post the first chapter. Thanks for reading this! If you don't know how to check out sequels or an author's other works, just click on the blue version of my/their penname. And for those of you who already knew that, don't be offended. I wrote that down because I had trouble with that, so others might. I know I left a lot of unanswered questions, but I will clear up some of them in ****_Sandra Shade – Avoiding Boys_****. Also, if you have any suggestions, requests, OC's, insults to throw at me (trust me, I won't be offended) for taking too long to update or ending Book 1 here, compliments (I like those…), or anything else to say, just leave a review, ThaliaofAvalon. **

**Here's a snippet or two of Book 2:****_ Sandra Shade – Avoiding Boys_****.**

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Sandra screamed at him. "I was TRYING to HELP!"

"You ruined EVERYTHING!" Roland yelled back.

"MY ONLY FAULT WAS TRUSTING _HER_ – AND I ONLY DID BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"SHE TURNED ME DOWN, BROKE MY HEART, AND YOU WERE HER FRIEND! I _THOUGHT_ YOU WERE MINE TOO, BUT I GUESS I WAS WRONG!"

"I WAS IN LOVE WITH YOU! ALL I EVER WANTED WAS FOR YOU TO BE _HAPPY_!"

/

"_I drove for miles and miles and wound up at –" _Sandra sobbed, collapsing against Cyan. He only hesitated for a moment before his lips were on hers. It was desperate – they both knew they had only now; tomorrow this would all be forgotten, just like it always had been before. His rough, warm hands were tangled in her sunset hair. Sandra was pressed up against something – a tree? A cabin? She didn't care. All that mattered right now was the boy who loved her.

/

**If you were concerned, _Sandra Shade – Avoiding Boys _is rated T. All Sandra and Cyan do is kiss. Thank you so much, Luisa! You are so nice! Thanks to **fed-ex i ship you you **as well.** **You guys reviewed! Just put Ch. 1 of Book 2 up, if you want to read it, everyone!**


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